1983 United States embassy bombing

The 1983 United States embassy bombing occurred on 18 April 1983 when an Islamic Jihad Organization suicide bomber drove a delivery van packed with 2,000 pounds of explosives under the portico of the US embassy in Beirut, Lebanon and detonated his bombs, killing 63 people and injuring 120. The entire central facade of the horseshoe-shaped building collapsed, and the explosion was heard throughout West Beirut, with glass being shattered a mile away. 32 Lebanese employees, 17 Americans, and 14 visitors and civilians were among the dead, with CIA Middle East analyst and spy Robert Ames being killed along with most of the Beirut CIA staff. The IJO claimed responsibility for the attack, claiming that it was a part of the Iranian Revolution's campaign against imperialist targets throughout the world; on 30 May 2003, it was determined by the US District Court in Washington DC that senior Iranian officials had funded the attack. In 1984, the relocated embassy was again targeted in the 1984 United States embassy annex bombing.